People v. Lopez
Annotate this CaseAfter being accused of numerous sexual offenses against his girlfriend’s children, Lopez pleaded no contest to two counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14 years old and one count of rape and admitted a special allegation that he had committed offenses against more than one victim. He was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison. The court of appeal reversed, finding that the trial court erred in denying Ortiz’s request to discharge his retained counsel, who had represented him for two years. The request, made about a week before trial was scheduled to begin, was not untimely and the trial court erred by not inquiring into “whether justice would be unjustifiably delayed by granting the motion.” Although the case was old, Lopez asked to discharge the attorney during plea negotiations, before it was clear whether the trial would proceed, and the prosecutor did not object to the request. The trial court did not indicate it believed Lopez had improper motives in seeking to discharge his counsel; the record suggests the contrary.
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